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Captain Francis Crozier
Captain Francis Crozier was an Irish officer of the Royal Navy and captain of the HMS Terrorduring the failed Franklin Expedition. An experienced sailor and arctic veteran, Crozier is one of, if not the, Franklin Expedition's best sailors. Despite Crozier's skills in sailing however he has found it difficult to advance in the Royal Navy due to his Irish heritage. This constant racial bias against him has led him to develop a deep insecurity and an uncaring demeanor, as he blames the world for many of his problems and feels he has been cheated in life. This demeanor makes it difficult for Crozier to make friends and as such he is widely disliked throughout the officers of the Royal Navy, with barely any friends in the officer corps. His life experiences have also caused him to turn to drink, with many in the navy aware of his alcoholism. Despite his dislike of many of the officers and not caring about navigating the Northwest Passage Crozier agrees to serve on the Franklin Expedition due to a promise he makes to Sir John Franklin's niece, whom he is romantically pursuing, to keep Sir John safe. During the expedition his repeated advice to halt or delay the expedition due to safety issues is rejected by Sir John, who feels the success of the expedition is his only way to regain respect and reputation amongst his peers. After Sir John's death at the hands of the Tuunbaq Captain Frazier becomes the expedition's commander, after which he immediately makes plans to abandon the expedition in order to return the men safely to Canada. Biography Almost nothing is known of Captain Crozier's past besides the fact that he is a successful arctic veteran. Despite his successes however he has not been promoted by the Royal Navy easily, with the Admiralty even refusing him a command on several occasions due to his Irish heritage. At some point he met and began pursuing Sir John Franklin's niece, however his Irish heritage and life as an arctic explorer caused her to frequently reject his proposals. These proposals were frowned upon by Sir John and his wife, who viewed Crozier as unfit to marry into their family. After Sir John received command of the Franklin Expedition Captain Crozier was offered the second-in-command position. Despite his dislike of Sir John and his lack of enthusiasm about finding the Northwest Passage he agreed to take the post due to Sir John's niece, who asked him to make sure he kept her uncle safe. Franklin Expedition Despite being second-of-command of the Franklin Expedition Crozier rarely socialized with the commander of the expedition, Sir John. This led to a tension not only between Crozier and Sir John but also between Crozier and numerous other officers, particularly the Erebus's second-in-command, Commander Fitzjames. Despite the expedition's initial successes the voyage soon runs into problems, such as the accidental deaths of two crewman. The Erebus's propeller is also damaged by ice, halving the maximum speed of the Erebus. Faced with a crippled ship, Crozier recommended heading back the way they came rather than continue forward into the "pack" of icebergs ahead of them. Crozier advocated abandoning the Erebus in order to use the Terror's speed to get out of the frozen ocean and to a sheltered harbor. Sir John, however, unwilling to abandon the Erebus and delay the expedition by turning back, insists that they should head forward, against Crozier's strong objections. Crozier's grim predictions about being stuck in the ice come true when the two ships become stuck in a massive field of ice with no hope of escape. After spending a winter on the ice Sir John sends search parties in all directions searching for open water the ships can make for. As the search parties come back with no leads however Crozier suggests sending a party to seek rescue. This suggestion is rejected by Sir John, who goes on to insult Crozier on many levels, all of which is overheard by the rest of the officers on the Erebus. Crozier decides to send a rescue party out anyway which he will lead, however before he can do so Sir John is killed during a failed ambush of the Tuunbaq. With Sir John dead Crozier finds himself in command, and holds a small but formal funeral for Sir John before sending out the rescue party.